Too Late
by Love Tendencies
Summary: Gokudera took a deep breath and tried his best not to cry. He was a guy. And a guy is not supposed to cry, especially for a girl. 5986 with hints of 1896.


_**A/N: Gawd. D: I felt so sad writing this. xD Yes, thPeekaBoo, this is for yooouuu. :3 My first time on writing tragedy. :D**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. They rightfully belong to Akira Amano.**

Gokudera took a deep breath and tried his best not to cry. He was a guy. And a guy is _not_ supposed to cry, especially for a girl. But it's just so hard right now, when he's comforting a girl crying for another girl.

"F-f-first, Tsu-kun and R-Reborn and now, H-H-Haru," Kyoko murmured to his chest.

He felt his shirt get wetter with her tears. He tried to comfort her, stroking her hair and hugging her, but to no avail, she didn't heed with her crying. Yamamoto is so much better than him in these things. And right now, he couldn't really comfort someone because his heart felt heavy itself.

"Kyoko," he called. She didn't answer so he continued, "Stay with the others outside and…"

He took a deep breath, forced a smile to his face and separated himself from the woman. Then, she looked at him with tears in her eyes, which fell even more when she saw the strained smile he wore. "Please don't let anyone else come in until I come out. And tell them I'm fine."

She nodded and walked out, her eyes on the ground.

When he heard the door shut, he let his emotions take over. It just hurt so, so much. His heart felt like falling to the ground as he stared at the brown-haired girl on the bed. He never really admitted it to her but he liked her very much.

And now, he will never be able to.

He knew that this time is not really the best to make a relationship because they could die any time soon, especially with Millefiore on a Vongola Killing Spree. Maybe he should've jumped at the chance when it was there. If he knew that she'd be like _this_, he'd confessed to her a long time ago. He didn't care that if she'd die while they're together, he'd be hurting even more.

At least, Haru would die happy, right?

He regretted his decision of not 'fessing up. He regretted it because her once healthy complexion is now pale, her once vibrant attitude now gone. And she even has wires attached to her. It made him feel even guiltier. So many things changed. And it would stay that way forever.

And so, he sat down on the chair beside the bed and held her hand, kissing it lightly. Her hands were cold. It made him feel even more depressed, knowing that this was his entire fault.

..Knowing that she died because of his stupidity.

He knew this is the last night. The doctor told him so.

"She's going to die tonight around midnight. I'm sorry," were his exact words.

Everyone was supposed to be here to watch her. But who wanted to watch someone die anyway? Even so, he came here to be with her. To be with her until the end.

He stared at her face, knowing that this will be the last time he'd see it in person. She took a sharp intake of air. That was it.

As he heard the long beep of the machine attached to her, he knew. It was her last breath.

Many things broke at the same time.

His emotion control broke and tears flowed freely from his eyes as he sobbed in regret, saying sorry again and again.

His train of hope broke and he became what he never wanted to be again: hopeless.

His heart shattered, the feelings he once pushed away now coming back. Dread, grief, anger, regret, sadness.

And lastly, his world crumbled down. In its debris leaving a man weeping over the mistake he's done.

--

The next day was her funeral. The atmosphere was gloomy as everyone was dressed in black.

I-pin and Lambo were the ones who cried the most, having treated her like another mother. Fuuta tried his best to comfort them but failed because he himself couldn't help but cry. He grew up with the Miura looking out for him, patching up small scratches from playing too much and taking care of him when he was sick, so how could he not cry? Tsuna's mother, Nana, cried too as she remembered the times Haru helped her.

Weirdly enough, Kyoko didn't cry at all and resorted to grieving in silence like Hibari and Chrome. Was it possible that she couldn't cry anymore? On the other hand, the Rain Guardian stayed strong, his face emotionless as he comforted Bianchi.

After all, Haru told him that he was a strong person. So a strong person he is now.

The Poison Scorpion cried. For the first time in a funeral, she did. She didn't cry in Reborn's funeral and not in Tsuna's either. But now, her patience snapped. She had enough of people dying on her, so she cried. It didn't really surprise Yamamoto. He knew she was going to cry sooner or later.

Ryohei came with Hana. Ryohei was crying, telling his girlfriend how much he wants to 'torture the Millefiore to the extreme' while she merely cried silently. What happened to Gokudera?

He was clutching something. In his hands was a doll, a _Haru_ doll. She made it herself and gave it to everyone at last year's New Year's Eve. Nobody really knew why. He fought the tears threatening to fall.

After half an hour, the funeral just ended. Everybody was leaving. And yet, Gokudera stayed a bit behind to put a single red rose on her grave with one last whisper, "I'm sorry… And I love you."

He then ran to catch with the others. He knew the others saw what he did. And they probably knew what red roses mean too. And yet, he didn't care.

When they arrived in the Vongola Headquarters, the atmosphere was thick as they lazed about in the kitchen. They didn't know why but after a funeral, they always chose to stick together for about five minutes, in honor of the dead person. Kyoko's voice cut through the silence.

"Everyone, Haru told me after Tsuna died to give these things to you guys if she… ano… died. So here," she said, taking out envelopes and throwing them on the table. They stared at the seven paper swans curiously, wondering what was in them.

Kyoko spoke once again, "I haven't read mine yet. So, let's read them together, ne?"

After a minute, everyone grasped a red origami swan in their hands. Slowly, they opened it.

--

_Fuuta, I-pin and Lambo,_

_I must be dead now, because you're reading this. Please take care of each other. That's all I ask of you. And don't be so sullen about my death! Move on! There are still a lot of things for you guys to discover! Oh, and please don't get killed yourselves._

_Haru -heart-_

_Bianchi,_

_I've always adored you. You're always so unwavering, never getting pushed down by others. So, I thought that being your cooking apprentice would teach me things. Anyway, continue being yourself. And find another guy! I've always thought that you and Reborn never looked good together. I'm dead now; I can say what I want!_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Chrome,_

_Stop being so shy. And get IT on with Hibari. He likes you. :P_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Hibari (Chrome-lover! Haha),_

_YOU LIKE CHROME, DON'T YOU? I peeked into your room last Valentine's and you told Hibird, "Chrome is kind of nice." You can't bite me death now can you? I'm dead already. :P Anyways, as one last wish, please confess to Chrome. Or I'll haunt you. :D_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Yamamoto-kun,_

…_Please take care of the Lambo, I-pin and Fuuta. Thank you. And don't ever forget me, okay?_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Ryohei and Hana-chan,_

_Continue being 'extreme'! :D I hope you have the happy (romantic) relationship that I never had. Someone MUST have a happy ending right?_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Kyoko-chan,_

_Thank you SO much for always being there for me. Ganbatte on everything! :)_

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

_Hayato-kun,_

_I love you. I love you. I love you. I don't know if you love me back or anything but still, I love you. Even though I'm probably dead right now, please never ever forget the fact that I will love you forever. Thank you for being there when I needed you. And please stop smoking._

_Wish you all the best, Haru -heart-_

--

Everything was silent. Some of them cried again. I-pin started saying something in Chinese and Lambo said something in Italian too. They had their head bowed. Bianchi ran out of the room and Yamamoto followed her. Everything else was still.

Gokudera didn't even finish reading her letter. His eyes started blurring with tears at her fourth 'I love you'. He interrupted the silence by chuckling darkly.

"Stupid woman! Making us all cry again…"

'_Oh and I love you too,'_ he finished in his head. _'Too bad I'm too late.'_


End file.
